INTERNATIONAL RIJEKA PARADE

The
culmination of carnival festivities in Rijeka is the traditional
International Carnival Parade. Famous in the world for being one
of the biggest carnival parades, it gathers over ten thousand
carnival participants from all parts of Croatia as well as from
abroad.

Carnival customs in our region reach far back into the past.
Even a hundred years ago, carnival life in Rijeka was more
intense than in any other town in this part of Europe.

Aristocracy from all over Europe took part in the organized
carnival parades and balls. Today, we try not only to preserve
our tradition, but also to enhance it with new experiences,
festivities and masks related first and foremost to the
characteristics of this coastal region. The carnival
participants display impressive creativity in the crafting of
masks, costumes and allegorical wagons. Some groups also like to
display their humorous commentary, their parody of current local
and global issues.

On the last Sunday of the carnival, it is truly wonderful to
experience the Carnival of Rijeka – with or without a mask.
Precisely at noon, the Master of Ceremonies and the Queen of the
Carnival together with morettos, the town band and Rijeka
majorettes in front, head the five kilometre long International
Carnival Parade. All the participants, together with over a
hundred thousand visitors, enjoy themselves, while the bright
carnival spirit can be felt in all the streets, cafes and
restaurants in town.

And when the procession of a hundred and fifty groups with
thousands and thousands of dancing and singing masks starts,
with the band in front, you are drawn into a game where you only
need to let yourself go and «feel the joy of it. Numerous
carnival groups - including the traditional ones that have
marked the beginnings of the new carnival decades since 1982
(“Lako ćemo”, “Pehinarski feštari”, “Halubaj’s bell ringers”),
as well as the groups organized specially for the International
Carnival of Rijeka come together in the procession. The carnival
parade lasts for hours. The hosts add to it with their humorous
remarks from numerous stages, and there are over a hundred
thousand spectators as well as catering offerings along the
carnival route.

After
the impressive performance of Halubajski zvon~ari who bring the
parade to its end in the late hours of the evening, a new
festivity begins: at Korzo and around town, there is a new,
dancing carnival programme. It is up to you to stay on as long
as you like, or are able to. The message of the cheerful crowd
all around you will be loud and clear: Join us in the beauty and
enjoyment of Rijeka’s unique Fifth Season of the Year - the
Carnival of Rijeka!